Work Overview

II: The Dancing Man of Kew. The title refers to a cult
figure seen on the streets of Melbourne, Australia. I
particularly recall seeing him on a windswept winter's day. He
danced jerkily at a traffic intersection to music on his
headphones. It was assumed he listened to pop and techno, but I
always wondered if he was listening to something different, like
this French-style waltz.

III: The Flight of the Magic Hat. When in Melbourne
performing concerts in 2013, the cellist in my group at the time
had his hat blown off on a windy day in the middle of the city.
It flew into the middle of traffic in Collins Street, going under
and around cars and trams. The cellist retrieved it, but it was
in such bad condition that we assumed he would throw it away. We
kept walking as he tried to fix it, and - after five minutes of
massaging it - this Magic Hat was miraculously as good as new. We
couldn't believe it. This music was then just an idea I was
working on around the same time this happened, and was originally
called Tolik's Magic Hat.